Friday, 22 January 2016

Nivea Men Post Shave Balm | An Unlikely Primer

Yes it appears the blogosphere has gone crazy, or at least that is what I thought when I first saw Nikkietutorials using a men's after shave balm as a primer for her makeup. However upon hearing her rave reviews video after video of the Nivea Men's Post Shave Balm as a makeup primer I knew I had to give this a shot just to see if it lived up to the hype.

The Nivea Men Post Shave Balm is designed to cool the skin after shaving and combats irritation and moisture. The alcohol-free formulation is perfect for sensitive skin that lacks moisture. Formula wise this is very liquidly, to the point where you need to be careful and don't do what I did and tip the bottle to have it spill all over my hands! Because the formula is so runny a little definitely goes a long way and you only need the smallest amount to cover your face. When applying this goes onto the skin really smoothly, but the trick is to continue rubbing this into the skin until it goes tacky as this will help give your makeup something to grip onto. I find that once this has gone tacky my foundation then applies really smoothly and evenly onto the skin, mimicking some of my favourite primers.

Because this balm contains such a high percentage of glycerine this means that it helps lock in moisture meaning that makeup lasts longer on the skin. I wasn't too sure how well this would last on my skin as I have a considerably oily t-zone and I often have to blot halfway through the day, but I can honestly admit this does help my makeup stay in place longer and if I do suffer from a bit of oil during the day (but with this I have noticed it is less often) I can blot with a tissue and not run the risk of wiping my foundation off in the process. Even something as simple as blowing my nose (attractive I know) would normally result in me rubbing my foundation off with a tissue, but nope this balm helps my foundation literally stick to the skin like glue.

One thing I have noticed whilst using the Nivea balm is that it has helped to soothe my skin as I've been suffering a lot of breakouts at the moment (darn you fizzy pop) which leaves my skin red and patchy, but over time this has definitely helped with redness and irritation left from blemishes.

Now I will admit when I first tried this I was scared that my face would smell like a man, as this does have a very strong masculine scent to it when you open the bottle. I literally applied and then got straight into James' face and asked him if my face smelt - and thankfully he said the scent wasn't too noticeable which is a good thing because let's be honest and say that would be rather awkward if people could just smell a men's aftershave on a girl.

Overall the Nivea Men Post Shave Balm has definitely lived up the hype surrounding it, and I can safely say I am converted to using a men's shave balm as a makeup primer. This helps lock my makeup in place for long days with minimal oil making an appearance. And best of all? This only costs £5.35 for 100ml so this doesn't break the bank, and you can often get this on offer in the likes of Boots, Superdrug and even Asda.